


Bloom of deepest red, on the far shore of Death's River

by May_L_Stein



Category: Given (Anime), Given (Manga)
Genre: Afterlife, Canonical Character Death, Hanakotoba? better for the chapters, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Multi, Sanzu River, Underworld, first fic pls be nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24174610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/May_L_Stein/pseuds/May_L_Stein
Summary: Yoshida Yuuki is dead. Of course, like any other dead person, he has to move on. In this case, it means crossing the Sanzu River.
Relationships: Past Yuuki/Mafuyu, Yoshida Yuuki & original male character, Yoshida Yuuki/original male character, referenced Uenoyama/Mafuyu
Kudos: 16





	1. red spider lily

**Author's Note:**

  * For [boyfriem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boyfriem/gifts).



The smell was what first struck him.  
  
Yuki Yoshida was standing in a landscape he had never seen before, one with no equivalent in this world.  
The river cutting through it was wide and dark, with waters so murky anyone else would think it was tar. Yuki knew that it was water from the absence of smell, however. Red spider lilies bloomed all over the shore of the river, filling him with a sense of profound grief. He was suddenly struck by the presence of three crossings in the river.  
  
One was a shining golden bridge. Another was shallow water. The last one was filled with rocks and seemed so deep that no one could possibly swim through it.  
Yuki felt terribly awkward about the idea of using the golden bridge, for it was far too grand for him, but he could not cross the rocky murk on the other side of it, or cross the stream. He resigned himself to walking on the bridge.  
  
It was strange how the river seemed to glow with patches of white, though. Said patches often took the form of people, and instead of the rushing of water, Yuki could hear the wails of the souls of the damned.  
“Six mon, please, six mon!” “Free…me…pull…me…out…”  
Yuki cringed in fear hearing these shrieks. Nevertheless, he continued to walk forwards.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity of walking on the bridge, he stepped into a patch of red spider lilies on the opposite shore. He turned around to try and see where he had come from, but the river was far too wide.  
He climbed up the hill on the shore, before suddenly realizing where exactly he was.  
  
Yuki Yoshida, aged 16, was no longer a denizen of the land of the living, also known as the shore of the river Sanzu he had come from. He was now one of the dead, a permanent resident of the far shore.  
This realization shook him deeply, as did the memories of his suicide and his whole life before then. He missed Mafuyu terribly, but he knew there would be no chance of seeing him again.


	2. red camellia

Yuki could not stay on the hill forever, regretting his life and choices and longing for his friends and boyfriend, though. It was time to move on. 

He strolled along the desolate, empty landscape, with nothing to do, when he came across a stone path, lined with lanterns and…flowers and trees? He could have sworn that there was nothing alive down there. 

As he followed the path, he stared at the flowers. They seemed beautiful and well-cared for. There were many, in bright colors. Red, white and yellow camellias, lotuses, yellow tulips, sweet peas, zinnias, roses of all colors, several large cherry blossom trees, peonies, forget-me-nots, purple aster flowers, red spider lilies, red spider lilies, red spider lilies…

Yuki suddenly felt sick of seeing those flowers, knowing what they meant and where he’d last seen them. He turned around so quickly that the person behind him didn’t have enough time to dodge and bumped into him. 

“Ah! Sorry!” Yuki apologized hurriedly. The other person raised the wide brim of his straw hat. “Don’t be,” he smiled, “Many of the people that come here react like that seeing this place. I should probably replace some of the spider lilies to avoid scaring them off.” 

“Are you a gardener?” Yuki asked. 

“Of sorts,” the other person responded. Now that Yuki could see his face, he saw a fellow teenager who was a little shorter than he was with dark black hair, deep brown eyes and skin paler than a corpse. 

Something about him put him on edge, despite their first conversation being a benevolent one about flowers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter let's gooooo

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings naughty children  
> This is my first fic, pls review and kudos I wanna git gud  
> This is dedicated to my ultimate bro Mr. Ian Boyfriem  
> I did some research on the River Sanzu and Japanese underworld myths for this, as well as research on hanakotoba (flower language). It's really interesting, you should read about it!  
> \- May/Elluka


End file.
